InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 5

Pride (In the Name of Love) 5 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Language, Torture, Angst, Incest, Dark (at times). It's a massive story, folks, it's got a little bit of everything.
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - Nothing much to report.
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Inuyasha truly had intended to start his investigation into the circumstances of his brother's death. Or his whereabouts if he really was alive. He had. However, the first of the challenges to his office took place almost immediately the next morning. The Lord of the South had decided to make his play for his land and had sent a small but brutally efficient army against him. Inuyasha took the assault very personally and was pouring himself into finding a way to defeat it.

Miroku saw how disappointed Rin was, however, and as he didn't serve much purpose in a demon-on-demon showdown he had begun his own search.

If he hadn't gotten so directly involved, there was a good chance they never would have found anything.

Miroku entered the chamber where Rin had been slain and the whole encounter had taken place. Although the room had been cleaned, he wasn't searching for a physical clue. Just as a matter of course, he sent out a small spiritual probe to test for the - doubtful - presence of any lingering foreign energy.

The feedback he got from the small probe almost killed him. As it was, his eyes went suddenly blank and vacant as if someone had just pulled his plug, and he crashed to the floor. Rin let out a startled yelp when she saw him topple over, hurrying to kneel next to him. He didn't respond to her initial, panicked attempts at calling his name, though he snapped back into focus with a startled gasp when she slapped him.

"M...Miroku-sama?" she whispered hesitantly.

"Buddha save me..." he mumbled, his face ashen. He had never felt anything so strong and wholly WRONG as the spiritual energy knotted up in that room. He hadn't really gotten a good look at it, but now that he knew it was there he could study it provided he was very cautious. "I think, Lady Rin, I may have found a clue," he said dryly, offering her a rueful smile.

"Really?" Rin's eyes lit up, but Miroku could tell she was making a concerted effort to not get too excited. "It...is it bad?"

"There is a lot of very evil spiritual energy tied up in this room. I've never sensed anything like it. I won't know more until I have the chance to study it, and it'll be very dangerous. I...gods, I'm not sure I'm qualified for this sort of thing," Miroku mumbled, running his fingers through his hair in uncharacteristic agitation. It wasn't often he wished he had studied harder and learned more at the monastery.

"There is no one else here that can," Rin said before looking up at him hesitantly. "Do you...think this has something to do with Lord Sesshoumaru's disappearance?"

"Yes, m'lady, I do. But it means whatever we're messing with is very strong.""It would have to be."

Miroku thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "True enough. I suppose I'll gather some things to protect myself and see what I can find out. And I'll have to tell Inuyasha...there's a chance things could go wrong and I might get..hurt." Miroku frowned deeply. He had already been leveled with an accidental glance - what would a deeper look do to him? But there weren't any other monks nearby - nor would most be willing to come to the castle of a demon lord. Even if that lord was only half-demon and part of a little group that had been helping save everyone for years. No, he was on his own. He only hoped he was strong enough.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sesshoumaru had felt the bite of the vicious shock collar twice more since the previous day - once when he attempted an escape out of a window and learned that the boundary had NOT just been set at the doors, and a second time when he had not really responded to Tsetsukosei's command to come to him. His muscles were cramped and they HURT from seizing up under the electric current. The occasional twitch and spasm still jerked its way through him, causing him to stumble clumsily.

All that was forgotten, however, when he finally sank into the hot bath.

On the surface, he railed against the idea of taking this bath, not wanting to clean himself up for the damn beast's pleasure. However, the hot water was infinitely soothing and felt simply divine to his tortured frame, and he sank gratefully into its warm embrace. He was reluctant for it to ever end and only drug himself out when the water finally began to cool too far.

He pulled himself into a plain gray kimono that had been provided for him - the fabric was coarse, but it was clean and served to shield him from the eyes of the castle's many denizens. Some part of him seethed inwardly about being so grateful for such a small thing as a warm bath and clothes, but he promptly told the voice to shut up and let him enjoy what minor pleasures he could while he had the chance.

His stomach clenched painfully, but he was able to somewhat stifle its yowling with a very long drink of cool water. He then sat down lotus-style and attempted to clear his mind and find his center. If he was ever going to get out of here, he had to devote every moment he could spare to finding a way.

He had already tried removing the collar to no effect. The metal neither bent nor broke, and seemed to be solid. He couldn't even find a seam where it could have been sealed. Whatever components were within it that made it deliver its horrible shock were apparently internal and surrounded by the cool metal surface. The metal itself was a dark blackish-gray and had intricate patterns carved into its surface. A loop dangled in the front - and was equally impervious to his best attempts to damage it.

If he could somehow find a way to remove the hateful thing, he had no doubt he could escape. Or if he could find a way to remove the boundaries so he could get past them...although the thought occurred to him that maybe there wasn't so much a set of boundaries to shock him if he tried to pass them, but rather there was some focal point that activated the collar if he got out of range. That seemed more likely....and made things more difficult. Perhaps if he could find the focus and bring it with him...unless it wasn't a tangible object. Either way, it merited further investigation.

What he really needed to learn was more about Tsetsukosei's strange form of magic, this whole...Black Circle...thing, and where precisely he was. That left him with three options, and all of them made him curl his lip in distaste. He could interrogate some of the lesser demons in the hallways - and they could report things straight to their superiors or lie. Besides, they were foul, disgusting wretches. Most of them seemed half rotted, with oozing, slimy, infected flesh...covered in sores and boils. Just looking at them made Sesshoumaru want to retch, and dear gods, the SMELL...!

So talking to the minions was out. The second option was to talk to Tsetsukosei himself - and this didn't appeal to Sesshoumaru in the slightest way. Besides, it would reveal far too much. The only way the cocky demon-beast would allow it was if he truly didn't think the knowledge would assist Sesshoumaru in any way.

That left the third option - finding a library and hoping it would have some of what he needed. Despite his bestial appearance, Tsetsukosei was intelligent. Therefore, somewhere in this twisted fortress there had to be SOME sort of repository of knowledge. The problem would be finding out where the library was and if he would be allowed to access it.

The mere thought of being disallowed and needing to ask permission for ANYTHING was enough to make the proud taiyoukai grit his teeth in annoyance. The only person that had ever demanded his submission before had been his Lord Father, and it had been his right to do so as head of the family and the stronger alpha male.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. Every instinct he had screamed at him to fight, fang and claw, to his last breath against his current lot in life. He was strong, he was powerful, he had been victorious over everyone that had dared to rail against him in challenge...and he was proud of it. He was proud to be the son of the infamous Inu no Taisho. He was proud to be the Lord of the West. He was damned proud of the place he had carved out for himself. Amongst the youkai, ALL knew who Sesshoumaru was and even if they hated him, they respected him and most even feared him. And it was all the sweeter because he knew he had fully earned it, that it was not just honor granted him by merit of his bloodline and who he was.

Intellectually, Sesshoumaru knew he could not go on as he was. He hated Tsetsukosei and wanted nothing more than to destroy him, to prevent that scaly bastard from ever again laying a single wretched claw on him. However, until he had the ability to destroy the demon - if he was indeed a demon as Sesshoumaru understood the term, certainly he was different than any other youkai he'd encountered! - until he was capable, he was making his life exceptionally and unnecessarily painful and difficult.

Sesshoumaru wondered if he could truly bring himself to offer even a token show of submission to his captor. The mere thought made him twitch and his cheeks burn with shame. He knew logically that it was the smart thing to do - why suffer needlessly for his pride? When he escaped, no one would need to know. After all, he had never heard of this Black Circle before he met Tsetsukosei in person, and he seriously doubted there were many others that had. After all, Sesshoumaru made knowing things his business.

So, he would bite his tongue and choke it down. He would shame himself and submit to Tsetsukosei. And as reward for giving the bastard what he wanted, he would ask to be allowed to read in his free time. Hopefully ... and Sesshoumaru hoped it very fervently ... offering himself as a sacrifice would ultimately be the key to his freedom.

As if on cue, with his mind made up, he felt Tsetsukosei's voice rasp into his mind. "Come to my throne room, puppy."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miroku frowned nervously as he slowly sat down in the circle he had painstakingly drawn on the floor. Several candles flickered lazily around the room. The smell of incense was thick in the air. Prayer beads, holy diagrams, and ofuda were strewn about. Miroku said every prayer and performed every blessing of protection he could think of, as well as a silent plea to the powers that be to just PLEASE not let this be the death of him.

In truth, Miroku doubted much of it would do a bit of good. He wasn't sure, in fact, if ANY of it would do anything to help or protect him - but he figured he'd take what he could get. He had the distinct and uneasy feeling that this was something he should not, under any circumstances, be messing with...but he'd always been a sucker for a pretty girl, especially one in distress. And Rin qualified as both of those.

The worried monk closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, releasing his worry and his doubt. No sense carrying such negativity with him. He spent the better part of an hour meditating and emptying his mind. When he felt he was prepared, he ever so slowly opened his senses to the spiritual realm.

The dark knot of spiritual energy was there, although it was more or less quiescent when he wasn't shooting probes into it unwittingly. He observed it from a distance - never before had he seen its like. It was as if the fabric of the spiritual realm that existed within the room had been wadded up and tied into a dark, squirming knot roughly the size of a child. Miroku shuddered inwardly as he looked more closely at the dark mass - it writhed and squirmed like a ball of bloated black maggots.

Miroku didn't dare to push his senses into that knot just yet - the malevolent energy it radiated was too strong. It seemed that this was not an accidental thing - whatever had been in this room had left that mass intentionally. // But what is it? // Miroku mused.

He started when the squirming mass briefly shifted, and caught a glimpse of something beyond it. // A portal of some sort? Perhaps whatever assaulted here came from this gateway, then. //

Miroku observed it quietly and took note of everything of interest. He glanced sidelong at the mass after a moment and decided to try something. He picked up his staff, murmuring softly as he dipped the end in holy water and placed a talisman on it. Ever so slowly, he inched the edge of the staff towards the knot.

The effect was instantaneous. The writhing, wormy mess retreated from the end of his staff, allowing him a brief but clear view into a very dark, stone room. Blood spattered the walls, the floor - even the ceiling. A pair of blood-soaked manacles dangled from one wall. Tattered, crimson-stained shreds of familiar silk cloth lay in a heap next to equally familiar armor. // Sesshoumaru was there! //

In his excitement, Miroku failed to pay proper attention, and was unprepared for the buildup of vicious black energy that lashed out at him. He yelped as he was hurled across the room. He would have crashed into the door had said door not opened to admit Inuyasha at that moment. The poor hanyou got a face full of flying monk, sending them both smashing into the opposite wall of the hallway.

"Dammit, Miroku, get off me..." Inuyasha muttered. Miroku wheezed and clutched at his chest. Inuyasha glanced at his friend, the sharp tang of blood filling his nostrils. "Holy shit, Miroku! What happened to you?!"

A scorched, dark bruise covered most of Miroku's chest, and was ruptured and bleeding in the middle. His hand was also burned where it had clutched his staff - which was currently no more than a small heap of ashes and melted, ruined metal. "Th'....nnn."

"Alright, don't talk. I'll get a healer to work on you and then you can tell me what you found. Did you...find something?""Yes," Miroku whispered quietly as his friend lifted him and carried him off towards the healer's quarters.

"Did you find Sesshoumaru?""Nn...no. I found...his things. He was there. I think he was...tortured. So much blood..." Miroku choked, before coughing violently.

"Damn. Just...be quiet for now. When you're better, we'll talk more, ok?"

Miroku didn't answer him - apparently, the monk had fainted.